Discussions about creativity, growing old, growing young, self-publishing, freedom, the craft of writing, art, and many other topics. Part confessional, part thinking out loud, I write what interests me at the moment. BTW, I write my books under the pen name R. Patrick Hughes.

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Friday, September 26, 2014

My guest today for my series "Where I Live and Why I Like It" is the writer/blogger Rachna Chhabria. I've been following Rachna for three years now and she has one of the most thought-provoking blogs, always raising questions about the art of writing and its many challenges. Always open to new ideas, she constantly challenges us to be our best.

1. Geographical Information:

Country: India

State or Province: Karnataka

City or Town: Bangalore

District within City or Town:

Neighborhood:

2. Is there any place in your area
that’s considered a pilgrimage site, such as a religious shrine? If so, have
you been there?

A. I don’t think there is any such pilgrimage
site near my house. There is a temple, which I visit sometimes.

3. Is there a site that has special
meaning for you?

A. Just my
school which is five minutes walking distance from my house. I have fond
memories of it.

4. Is this where you were born and/or
grew up? If not, how did you come to live here?

A. I was born in another part
of India. My parents shifted to Bangalore when I was small. I have spent most of
my life in this place.

5. What do you like best about where you
live?

A. Its centrally located. All the major shopping
areas are within very easy reach. There is a market and a hospital nearby. There
are also three clubs close to my house.

6. Do you plan on living here the
rest of your life?

A. No idea. I can’t say much about the future.

7. Do you have family in the area, or
have you ventured out on your own?

A. My aunts and cousins stay just a few minutes
away.

8. Are you happy where you live?

A. Most of the time yes, but
due to the schools nearby (there are atleast 7 schools within walking distance
from my house), there is heavy traffic during the school hours which makes my
street very congested. And as most of the roads in Bangalore have become one-way,
all the traffic is diverted down my street. This is a big nuisance.

9. For tourists, what would you recommend
seeing?

A. For the tourists, there is
the famous Cubbon Park (nearly 300 acres of greenery), Lal Bagh Botanical
Gardens (with its glasshouse and its flower shows which attracts visitors and
tourists), the U.B city mall (which every visitor to Bangalore wants to see).

10. What do you do for entertainment where you live?
Sporting events, theater, concerts, so on and so forth.

A. I have plenty of malls and restaurants near my
house. And the mall rat I am, I love browsing in the malls and catching movies
at the multiplexes. The Cricket Stadium where all the cricket matches are
played is also near my house.

11. If you’re a writer, have you included where you
live in the settings of any of your stories? If you’re a painter, have you
painted any of your area’s features?

A. Yes. My settings have been
included in my stories. Infact, in my current WIP: Scavage, Bangalore: the
place I live in, is a major part of the setting.

12. Would you recommend others to move to where you live?
Why?

A. Yes, I would recommend others
to move to Bangalore. It’s a vibrant city, which has something for everyone.
Most Indians envy us Bangaloreans our amazing climate. Once upon a time, it was
called Pensioner’s Paradise and also the Garden City. But, I would also tell
them that as Bangalore is getting too crowded they should turn their attention
to other cities.

By Rachna Chhabria

Rachna lives in a part of the world that many of us would like to visit. You can visit her at her blog Rachna's Scriptorium. Thank you for letting us visit your world.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

I walk almost everyday, sometimes twice a day. Partly to better control my diabetes, partly to get exercise, and partly to think. It's something that I've come to look forward to and to feel uncomfortable if I don't do it (usually from reasons beyond my control). When you walk the same route day after day, you come to see more and more detail along the way. Along my walk, and I have several different routes I follow, I've noted and photographed some of the things I see. I'd like to share with you some of those sites.

Cobblestone Parkway, the main road into my development

This is along the first route I followed when I first started walking a few months ago.

This in a neighbor's yard not far from my house.

This is McCormick Road, another route I follow. This is the longest stretch, almost three miles round trip.

There are several things to see along this road.

This is a view that I enjoy, an expanse of trees beyond a lake, and the skies above,

and a section of fence.

There are also reminders of our modern world of communications.

And, finally, there are reminders that our roads are dangerous--roadside memorials.

Walking has become an added pleasure to my life. Hopefully, I can continue to do so for many years to come.

Friday, September 12, 2014

I've known Jeff Hargett for about three years now. He's a strong writer of sci-fi/fantasy and a terrific blogger with a growing following. He's had to deal with the worse kind of adversity for the past year or so and has shown us what the meaning of love really is. I've followed closely his journey over the past year or so, as has his many friends, and I think we all agree he is on the verge of something great with his writing.

1.Geographical Information:

Country: United States of America

State or Province:North Carolina

City or Town: Randleman

District within City or Town: n/a

Neighborhood: n/a

2.Is there any place in your area that's considered a pilgrimage site, such as a religious shrine? If so, have you been there?

I'm not aware of any nearby locations that hold any significant religious importance, however, there are a number of places in the area that have some historical significance.

One such place is in Greensboro, a larger town a few miles north of Randleman. On Feb. 1, 1960, four young black NC A&T students sat at a Woolworth store's whites-only lunch counter just one block south of where I currently work. Those students were refused service, but held their seats until the store closed. The next day, over twenty students, including some from Bennett College (a college for black women) joined the sit-in. On day #3 there were sixty students participating. Four hundred students took part on the fourth day, expanding the sit-in to the lunch counter at a nearby Kress store.

The peaceful sit-in protests expanded to cities throughout the southeast. On July 25, 1960, the Greensboro Woolworth store rescinded its segregation policy and served lunch to their black employees at that same lunch counter. That store is now the International Civil Rights Center and Museum.

3.Is there a site that has special meaning for you?There's a small park/nature trail nearby that my wife and I would visit on occasion. A river runs alongside it. It's a peaceful, relaxing place to visit.

4.Is this where you were born and/or grew up? If not, how did you come to live here?I was born on the west coast near Los Angeles, California. (My father was in the United States Marine Corps and as such, we relocated numerous times.) However, I did grow up in this area.

5.What do you like best about where you live?Randleman is a short drive away from both the Appalachian mountains and the Atlantic coast beaches. The people are friendly and the climate is temperate, humidity notwithstanding.

6.Do you plan on living here the rest of your life? Yes. My wife is buried just a few miles from our home, so I don't intend to ever leave this area--or this house.

7.Do you have family in the area, or have you ventured out on your own?My mother, brother, children and grandchildren all live within a few miles of me. I'm grateful that my immediate family isn't spread across the nation--or globe! More family = more fun at Holidays too.

8.Are you happy where you live?I do like calling North Carolina home. Randleman has a population of under 4,200, but it's within 30-45 minutes of five decent-sized cities.

9.For tourists, what would you recommend seeing?The North Carolina Zoo. At over 2,000 acres, it's the world's largest walk-through zoo.

10.What do you do for entertainment where you live? Sporting events, theater, concerts, so on and so forth. I'm somewhat of a homebody, but I'll catch a movie or a Grasshoppers baseball game on occasion.

11.If you're a writer, have you included where you live in the settings of any of your stories? If you're a painter, have you painted any of your area's features?I am a writer, but have never used this area as a setting. I did make reference recently to a couple of local schools (UNCG and Duke) in a short story.

12.Would you recommend others to move to where you live? Why?I would recommend it to those who prefer a more relaxed environment, not to those who crave the faster paced excitement of big city life. Lovers of ACC basketball and racing will find plenty of folks here with whom to share their passion.Thank you, Jeff, for participating in my series of posts about where people live. You can visit and follow Jeff as his blog Strands of Pattern.

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About Me

I'm retired from the private business world and have embarked on a writing career. I've self-published two collections of short stories BATTLES AND OTHER STORIES and THE GUNMAN IN BLACK, 5 stories of crime, and a novel, ONLY THE LONELY on Amazon.com. I write under the penname R Patrick Hughes.